Home Forums Reloading Varmint Rifles 204 Ruger loads

Anyone have favorite 204 Ruger loads they’d care to share?0

40 gr BT over 27.5 gr H4895 lit by a BR4. Or 39 gr BK over 28.5 Varget.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Dis one!


Surprisingly good in the wind...

Tagged.

If I call 80% of my shots as fliers my rifle shoots assume. So far I’ve only tried 32 grain Hornady’s and two suggested loads in the Nosler manual. I see in th Gack Book Mule Deer got ~1” groups ( I don’t recall but I assume 3 shot groups).
I’m going PD shooting early September. If I can’t get better than that that rifle stays home.

First group I shot was 2” - 3 shot group. Second pattern was 2” wide and 3” tall - 3 shots (the next 5 shots fell inside that pattern.)

Ok, I’m using cheap reloading dies - you know buy a set of dies and get a box of bullets free. The bullets are seat just off the lands. I’m using good bench rest techniques. H335 & Varget. I have several powders in this burn range but with these results. I wonder if I’m stroking my spoke.

I have a box of 40 grain Hornady and a box of 40 grain Nosler varmint bullets ordered. I plan on ordering some spendy dies. But I wonder, is the barrel the problem? I bought this rifle at a former bench rest shooter’s estate sale. He was my best friend. But I never saw him shoot that 204 even at PD’s, I wonder why???

I want to good shooting 204. I’m on a quest.

I like Winchester Brass- Redding Bushing Die and Benchrest seating die-- Benchmark and H-4895 primer does not seem to make much of a difference--my Current 204 XR 100 will shoot a wide range of charges with the same results 39 Sierra 3 shot @ 100 less than .3 . I posted targets BUTT I can seem to find them on my puter

Never fooled much with the 32 grain this particular rifle will NOT shoot 40 VMax less that 5/8" my previous XR would

Good Luck

Jim

I re-read Brian Pierce’s article in current (August 2018) Handloader article. I’m going for better dies first. I looked at a new barrel but dies first.
I got load’s of H4895, a favorite of mine. I think I have an unopened pound of benchmark. More bullets after dies.

32gr nosler-- 26.2 benchmark--good lift factor
39gr Sierra---24.8 Re 10--good long distance load
35gr berger--27.4 H-4895---good coyote load
all with Rem 7 1/2 primers
My three rifles have used these loads since the 204 came out and I have shot hundreds of prairie dogs with them.

Bugger: Every one of my 8 (eight) 204 Ruger Varmint weight Rifles shoots the wonderful 35 grain Berger bullets the best (accuracy wise) - sadly they are a little expensive and rather hard to come by here in SW Montana.
I switched to the just a tiny bit less accurate 32 grain Sierra Blitz Kings for my all around Varmint and predator Hunting.
They are a bit cheaper and much easier to find.
They are also instant death on all manner of Varmints and predators - from Ground Squirrels to Prairie Dogs to Rock Chucks and Badgers to Coyotes!
I highly recommend that you try the Sierra 32 grain Blitz Kings.
Best of luck to you.
Hold into the wind
VarmintGuy

I have some Benchmark and Varget on the shelf. Will be picking up some 32 grain V-Max and 39 grain Blitzkings and will be grabbing a pound of H-4895. Should be able to find a combo with that.

Still wanting to try a 40 grain Ballistic Tip. They don't have the B.C. of the Blitzking but I have had such good luck with .224 Ballistic Tips it is only right to try a 20 caliber BT.

Hear good things about TAC as well.

I have Winchester and Hornady brass. The Hornady brass has thicker necks. I’ve been keeping them separated. Been thinking a bushing die and benchrest seater like Hippy is using them I’ll go with only one brand of brass.
Hippy, what size bushing are you using?

I like 27.9 gr. of IMR8208, Hornady brass, Rem 7 1/2 primer, and Berger 35gr. bullet.

Bugger,

All the groups for varmint rifles in GUN GACK are 5-shot, unless otherwise noted. Dunno where you saw .204 groups in the book are approximately 1", as the results listed are for four rifles, and the 23 handloads vary from .48" to 1.12".

The most accurate load in the GACK data (which is for my present .204) is the 35-grain Berger with CFE223. Unfortunately, the 35-grain Berger's a hollow-point, and the ballistic coefficient is lower than for various 32-40 grain plastic-tipped bullets. Which is why I don't use the Berger much for varmint shooting: Despite the small 100-yard groups, it doesn't group as well at longer ranges due to wind-drift--and I primarily use the .204 for 300-500 yard prairie dog shooting. Many hunters, whether after varmints or big game, forget that 100-yard accuracy isn't always the best criteria when the rifle will be used at longer ranges.

Which is why my favorite .204 bullet is the 40-grain Hornady V-Max. It has the highest BC of any bullet that will stabilize in the standard .204 1-12 twist, expands very well at longer ranges, and drifts less in the wind. While several powders work well with the 40 V-Max, Ramshot TAC is most accurate in my present rifle, and also worked very in all but one of the other three rifles listed.

TAC also meters very easily through the relatively small neck, and I've found that's desirable when cranking out lots of PD rounds, since even some of the smaller-granuled extruded powders often clog up in the neck when using a powder measure.( If CFE223 shot as well with the 40 V-Max in this rifle, it would probably be my first choice, but it doesn't.) Have also tested the TAC load at hot and cold temperatures, and its very stable.

In fact, the reason TAC's usually among the first powders I try with any .204 is due to the overall excellent results obtained with it in the second .204 I owned, the Ruger 77 Mark II listed in the data. By the way, all the rifles listed were sporters, not heavy-barrel rifles. I tend to reserve heavy-barreled rifles for shooting at 500+ yards, with heavier, higher-BC bullets.

I thought the 39 Blitzking had a higher B.C. than the 40 grain V-Max.

Have I been mislead?

Most bullet manufacturers list a single BC, even though it changes with velocity. This is partly for the convenience of shooters, most of whom don't understand the concept.

The two bullets are very close in BC, but my range-tests show the Hornady does shoot a little flatter and drift a little less. And it should, because it's a little longer.

Plus, it's a LOT cheaper than the Sierra, and in my rifles has shot just as well, or better. :-)

I got ya.

Did order some of the 40 V-Max the other day. Hoping my Ruger UL will shoot them alright.

Hey John, just out of idle curiosity, what length are you loading and are you fitting to the throat?

As for dies, they might be okay even if "cheap." All depends on if you are getting seated concentrically. Another thing you might want to look at is how your cases are fireforming. If they are fireforming where one side bulges out at the base of the case, you have brass issues -- plus you might have a big, fat chamber. I went through all this and it wasn't fun. Fireformed round brass would shoot screamers. FL sized round brass, shot okay. FL sized or new crooked brass shot all over the paper.

Dave,

From what I recall (may check it later) am seating the 40 V-Maxes to the same length Hornady uses in their factory ammo. Hornady ammo has shot well in most of my .204's, so I figured why spend time and components dinking around with seating depth?

My handloads are usually in previously fired brass, neck-sized in a Redding bushing die with the expander-ball removed, to make sure the cases are nice and straight.

I see you've mentioned dies a couple of times. Others have mentioned working to get straight cartridges assembled.

How is the runout for your ammo?

I'm not used to consecutive barrels with different contours shooting the same loads nor having different bullets of the same weight settle on the same powder and charge, but it happened to me with the .204. My previous barrel was a PacNor 1-12" 3 L&G 24" remington varmint contour, the current is the same but it is a fluted sporter (not magnum) contour. I worked up loads for the heavy barrel, shot it to death .. to where bullets were keyholing .. had it rebarreled, probably with the same reamer, definitely by the same gunsmith, repeated the load workup, and wound up in the same place. So ... results .. all loads use WW brass and Remington 7-1/2 primers ... 32 grain Nosler or Hornady, 28 grains of H335, 39 grain Sierra or 40 grain Nosler, 27.5 grains of Varget. The 40 grain vmax wouldn't stabilize in the first barrel but does in the second .. and I'm back at 27.5 grains of Varget for it's best accuracy. I have not tried the speer 39 grain TNT or the Sierra 32 grain blitzking but given what I've seen, I bet I know what they'll shoot best with, at least in my gun.

Tom